Dear Bee-l'ers
 
I thought I would let you know how things went with the observation hive
I was planning to install in the art Gallery, here in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The bees are now installed, and 4 weeks into the display things are going
well.
 
If you recall, the gallery space where the bees were required was in a
stone building, with the only opening being a skylight 20 feet from the
floor.  We decided to install a 3 inch tube in the skylight by removing
one of the panes of glass in the skylight and plumbing this to the hive.
 
The artist also insisted on centering the display in the room, so the
entrance tube is about 30 feet long.  The hive is a full size, single brood
chamber with 5 frames of brood upon instalation on May 4th.  The hive has
a queen excluder between it and the rest of the unit, which consists of a
3 foot cube plexi case which contains the artifact, which the bees are
drawing comb in.
 
The initial installation used black abs pipe for the entrance tube, and
this did not work well.  We substituted clear plexi pipe (3 inch
diameter), and the bees trained to this within a few minutes (the
skylight probably helps).  Without the clear tubing, the bees all tried
to fly around in the display case; once the tubing was changed, there was
little flight in the case, and little defecation on the art.
 
 
We also had to provide a downspout on the pipe at the lowest point (at the
joint to the hive) where water blown in during rainstorms collects, and
where the dead bees are deposited by the house bees (they could not carry
their departed collegues all the way up the tube).  The dead bees are
removed daily during the night when the bees are inactive.
 
On June 6, we disconected the pipe, and sealed the tube, and hauled the
whole thing up on the roof to clean the case, and inspect the colony.  We
found the colony to be thriving.  It had ample supplies of fresh feed, new
pollen stores, and 8 frames of brood.
 
Most surprisingly, the bees have developed a one-way system for the
tube. Since the tube is angled at about 50 degrees to the floor, there is
a definate top and bottom to the tube. Bees walking up the tube walk upside
down on the upper side of the tube, while returning bees walk rightside
up on the lower side of the tube.  Few bees walk on the side.  I assume
there is some explanation for this arrangement (bees leaving go towards
the light??) but I haven't figured it out yet.
 
I also haven't made any firm conclusions about the role of the bees in
the tube.  The end of the tube is defended by guard bees, but I don't
know if the foraging bees walk all the way down the tube to turn over
their nectar, or if they do this at the tube entrance.  If the house bees
have to walk all the way up the tube to get the nectar from the foragers,
they must be significantly reinforced.  It takes 2-5 minutes for a bee to
walk from bottom to top, and 1-3 minutes from top to bottom.
 
Occasionally, one trips and falls down the tube, carrying many others
with it, hence the wide varriation in travel time.
 
I will try and get some photos published somewhere in the near future.
 
Anyone interested is welcome to email me.
 
BTW, this exhibit is availible for tour to any major art galleries in
North america where local bees can be used.  You'd have to contact the
Winnipeg Art Gallery for more info, after all, I'm just a beekeeper.
 
Phil
 
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Phil Veldhuis           | If I must be a fool, as all those who reason
Winnipeg. MB, Canada    | or believe any thing certainly are, my follies
[log in to unmask] | shall at least be natural and agreeable.
                                                David Hume (1739)